Ambient Authentication Specialist Zighra Announces First US Patent

2017-08-25

Ottawa-based authentication solutions developer Zighra has attained its first US patent, the company has announced.

Zighra’s aim is to use a wide range of metrics for continuous, passive user authentication. Behavioral patterns, biometric identifiers, social interactions, and metadata pertaining to devices and networks are all targets of the company’s eponymous platform, which uses over 500 such metrics, according to Zighra.

It’s an approach to user authentication that appears to be of increasing interest to major companies like Visa and Google. The former’s head of Innovation and Strategic Partnerships said earlier this year that Visa is gradually moving toward a future of “ambient authentication” that continuously assesses a range of metrics to verify a user’s identity, while an advanced R&D team with Google referred to aspirations for such a system on Android devices back in May of last year.

In a statement, Zighra said that its new US patent pertains to its AI engine, “protecting the company’s ability to create a cognitive signature to authenticate each user through sensor-based intelligence obtained from six distinct layers of data.” The company also suggested that this is the first step in a planned effort to dramatically extend its IP portfolio with respect to authentication technologies.